Finance expert, 37, shares her top five tips for getting rich quick (2024)

Saving money hardly feels like a glamorous thing to do, but the end result - a nice nest egg or zero credit card debt - always makes it worth the effort.

And while working out a budget or savings plan can leave you with your head in your hands, there is a simple way.

Australian financial expert, Canna Campbell, founder of Sugar Mamma, believes anyone can take charge of their finances, get out of debt and build a healthy bank balance.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at Canna's advice on how to make your money work by increasing your savings and reaching your financial goals - whatever they might be.

1. Take time to write it all down

One of the most important things you can do when starting out is to take a moment to write everything down so you can get a clear picture of your financial situation.

Canna said this includes all your assets - the money you have in your accounts as well as liabilities - your debt, including credit card, loans and hire purchase.

'This gives you a clear snapshot as to where you stand financially and gives you a point of comparison to improve from this moment on,' she told Husskie.

2. Set financial goals

Like dieting, savings works best if there's a goal in mind.

The expert, and author of the $1000 Project, said to think about what you would like to achieve with extra savings, and again, write this down.

She said as well as goals that may include paying off debt, make sure you identify other goals that make you feel excited.

Speaking previously, Canna said any goal should have an amount, a deadline and lead back to an intention.

'For example, it might be to "save $30,000 by 1 December 2018 for the deposit on my first property",' she explained.

Canna recommends starting with one or two goals, and to make sure they are as simple and as straight to the point as possible.

3. Make empowering budgeting choices

Once you've done some footwork, Canna suggestscreating a budget so you can track your money as well as get a handle on where there might be a shortfall.

She recommends using your budget to help you to become more organised by matching it against your calendar so you always know what bills are due when.

'You can use my Sugar Budget App which makes this a lot easier to set up and maintain. Check your budget every couple of weeks to make sure you are staying on track,' she told Husskie.

As well as streamlining weekly and monthly costs, Canna said a budget was a great way to review spending and make decisions about what can be kept or eliminated.

4. Take charge now

Canna is a firm believer in taking action as soon as possible to ensure your money can start working straight away.

She said, for example, you might make a decision to cut down your clothes shopping from $500 to $300 a month which will instantly give you an extra $200 savings.

Instead of leaving this money to languish in your main account, the expert said take action immediately and direct these new savings into an account to they don't become absorbed into your weekly spending.

'This will make sure the $200 doesn’t get used up for something new that might sneak into your budget,' she said.

Canna said being proactive works really well if you have decided on a new goal and want to see this start to take shape.

The expert recommends something as simple as transferring $1 into a new savings account or $10 transferred to pay off credit card debt can help build momentum which can in turn build powerful new financial habits.

5. Make your super work harder

Canna, a former accountant, said it's important to take control of your superannuation fund in much the same way as you would any savings goal.

She said the first thing to look at was the amount of money you project you will need to live off after retiring and calculate that by a retirement period to get your overall figure.

The example she gave was that at age 65 she wants to retire with an annual income of $60,000 to last for a period of 20 years.

This figure comes to $1,200,000 which is the total amount she will need in her super fund to retire with her projected income.

Here, she recommends two things. Firstly,she suggests consolidating your superannuation into account which is invested in a portfolio that is right for you.

Secondly, she urges a proactive approach to make sure you are in control:

'Never neglect your super - get formal financial advice about the option of regularly contributing to it beyond your employer contributions.'